Hide and Seek
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: A dispute between two villages can only be resolved by their kage. And what better way to resolve a dispute than by a classic game of hide and seek? But between these two, a game might not be that much of a game... NarutoxMei! Fluff! Humour! Implied Sex!


**A/N: Just a short little oneshot drabble of a story that came to me while I was sitting in my hospirtal bed. We all know how flirtatious Mei Terumi is, no? How she hates to kill handsome men? Well, I remember her saying that about Sasuke. So what about Naruto ,then? What if Mei actually met him? What if they became attracted to each other? What if, years after the Tobi's defeat during the Fourth Shinobi War, they played a little game?**

**This is a story of that game. **

**Remember, this AU! Very little of this story makes any sense if you look at it from Canon perspective!**

_Catch me if you can. If you can't...then I'll catch you._

_~Mei Terumi._

**Hide-and-Seek**

Find her.

Trap her.

Compel her to reveal the location of his stolen treasure and get the fuck home.

Those were his objectives.

Of course, Mei Terumi's objectives directly opposed his.

Right now he was blind, pissed off, and holding a rope embedded with cold iron. The only way this night could get any worse was if she escaped him again. Naruto's ear twitched and the hair on his nape rose as something scraped along the boulder to his left. He went still, his eyes searching the endless black for some sign of his quarry.

Footseps sounded on the path behind him. He turned, cursing the lack of moonlight and her habit of only traveling at night. To his right movement caught his attention and he stilled, growling in frustration. Light, ringing laughter echoed all around him. She moved fast and completely silently when she wished.

Rage clenched his gut.

She was playing with him.

_Again._

"Must be nice to be able to seee in the dark and move like the wind, huh?" he snarled into the empty air. Not to mention dissolve into water and mover anywhere she wanted within the bounds of the Land of Water. Oh, and that ability to spew corrosive mist and incinerating lava? Neat trick, that.

His hand tightened on the rope that was basically designed to trap a creature like her. He wore thick black leather to prevent the charmed iron from touching his skin and leeching his chakra away. It was meant to bind her, a kage, before she escaped him. It would only work if touched her bare skin. Normally that would be a problem, but not with her. Reverting to her water self and traveling through the earth left her naked every time she regained form.

Unfortunately, roping this woman was harder than catching a toad in a vat of olive oil. He'd never so much as caught a glimpse of her yet since it was always dark. Usually it went this way during their little game-she toyed with him for a while, making him think he might have her...then she escaped. It was a bizarre situation for him. _He_ was usually the one doing the toying where women were concerned.

"Come on, Mei. Don't play hard to get. Just give me back my ramen and I'll stop hunting you."

"I kind of like it when you hunt me," came her lilting voice from somewhere farther up the he walked. She had a sexy voice, whiskey rough and sweet. Usually the sound of it would send a silent thrill through his body. Today it just pissed him off.

"Giving up already?" She taunted from just beyond his sight. "Honestly, Hokage-sama! You can be such a _bore_ sometimes...

"That's not going to work, Mei."

She did not honour him with a response.

The silence was deafening.

He ground his teeth and readied a jutsu in his head that would give him a little light. It wouldn't last long, so he needed to draw her closer before he released it. He was the Rokudaime Hokage. Such jutsu came naturally to him now, whereas they hadn't during the ineptitude of his youth. Many things came to him naturally now. Women included. His three year tenure as Tsunade's successor had been a good one; Konoha and its newfound allies had flourished during his reign. It was one such ally he now pursued. She was a wiley woman, most unusual and thrice unpredictable, and she'd been a neverending source of vexation for quite some time.

Putting her subtle advances aside, Mei Terumi was normally the more reserved of the five kage. Save for matters of flirtation and the ever-deadly subject of marriage, Naruto had come to respect and revere her as something of the ideal woman. She didn't have the fiery temperment of a certain pinkette kunoichi. Nor did she hold the stammering shyness of an unamed Hyuuga. In terms of stamina, Mei possesed the vitality of a teenager. She was fiesty. She was indomitable. She was unpredictable. Mei _didn't_ tote her rank and stauts around like cudgel; nor did she bludgeon her people with it whenever she made an appearance. She'd _earned_ her title, through had work and determination, not through some paltry or inheritance like the other kage.

Indeed, Mei Terumi was an ideal shinobi.

She was equal parts woman and a kage. She understood the common folk and sympathized with them; she was a leader to them in times of need. Though she was several years his senior, Naruto had held her as something of a role model. He also knew better than to call her anything other than Mei. The day they'd first met; the first time he called her Mizukage, had also been the last.

_"There are no need for formalities between us, Lord Hokage." she'd smiled softly. "Nor is there any need to address me by my tilte. Please, call me Mei."_

For the last three years, he'd done just that.

Until last week.

The Hyuuga clan had held a grudge against Kiri ever since they'd learned of Ao's Byakugan eye. While Naruto knew not how the man managed to gain such an important item, he knew from experience that the Hyuuga would not remain silent over what they viewed to as an attrocity. And they hadn't. Such an invaluable dojutsu might be replicated in Kirgakure, they accused. And even if it wasn't who was to say the Hidden Mist would be content to stop there, they'd argued. Who was to say they wouldn't target the children of Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura next? Naruto knew his former teammate would soon commit _seppuku_ than allow such a thing to happen to his betrothed or his offspring, but despite this, and despite Hyuuga Hiashi's own admission that the matter was long since dead, they hadn't been able to placate the Hyuuge Elders.

They'd demanded retribution.

Some called for Ao's immediate execution. Others wanted the offending eye removed. Still others demanded Kirgakure be razed to the ground before they created yet another Hyuuga clan based off secrets contained within Ao's eye. Thankfully the Mizukage had intervened before matters became complicated. In place of outright executing or exiling her subourdinate, she'd offered Konoha an amusing form of an ultimatum. A contest, of sorts.

It would be a game of hide-and-seek, with their pride as shinobi on the line.

Therefore, when the Mizukage had challenged him to said game, Naruto hadn't been able to refuse. This was the easiest way to settle the dispute between the villages, Kage to Kage. The terms were thus: if Narutowon, then Ao would willingly turn himself over to Konoha and relinquish the Byakugan eye willingly and would marry Mei at a time of his choosing. If _Mei _won, then the Leaf would let the matter drop and Uzumaki Naruto would marry her at the time of _her_ choosing. Though the prospect of marriage was a galling one indeed, the orange hokage had accepted her terms.

Win or lose, both the Leaf and Mist would stand to gain. Kiri would gain a bloodline, as would Konoha. And the matter would never be brought up again. It was the most timely and peaceful solution

Or so he had thought.

Mei hadn't mentioned she'd be stealing his ramen as an incentive. With _that_ it was personal. Naruto wanted his ramen back, and he wanted to teach her a lesson, once and for all. No one touched the Hokage's ramen and lived to tell the tale. No one! But it had been nearly a week now, and he was beginning to doubt his ability to succeed. Mei was an adept when it came to stealth, and she'd been leading him across Fire Country for several days now. What had once seemed an amusing diversion was now looking to be more and more sinister than he'd initially assumed.

"Why are you doing this?" he called. "Why steal my ramen and leasd me away from the village?" His voice grew a degree lower and a lot more hostile. "I wouldn't want to hurt a nice girl like you over something like this."

"Who said I was nice?" The words breezed past his ear and were gone.

He lunged toward the direction of her fading voice with his rope and got nothing but air, a cool breeze, and the light floral fragrance of the soap she used. Staggering and swearing a blue streak, he barely caught himself before falling on his face. Straightening, he laughed mirthlessly. "Come on now, don't go away so fast, baby." Scanning the darkness for any semblance of sound and finding none, he continued. "At least give me a goodbye kiss before you leave."

And then she was _there,_ the warmth of her prescence at his elbow, taunting him with her proximity. The brush of her silky hair against his skin. The soapy, light flowery scent of hers teasing his nose. She spun him around almost before he could resist; her two lips violently caging his mouth. Naruto let his body go limp; resisting the compelling urge to sweep her into his arms and ravage her as his tenant had urged him countless times before.

_Ah, good._ He'd been gambing her arrogance might be her end.

_"Gotcha,"_ he murmured. The jutsu burst from him with a little pop, lighting their immediate area with a golden glow. He reached out to pull her close in the same moment, rope ready to trap. His fingers brushed the smooth bare skin of her waist as she backed away. For a moment she stood motionless. Her lush lips were parted, ruby red hair lofting around a pale, beautiful heart-shaped face, green eyes flecked with gold and wide with surprise.

He stared back at her, sharing an equal measure of astonishment. She was the most stunning woman he'd ever seen. He hadn't been expecting that. He'd known she would be naked, but even so, he hadn't been expecting it. Naruto took a step forward, rope in hand. She dissolved as soon as he moved. A vison of beauty one moment, gone the next in a burst of soft spray. He looked down at his feet and saw the puddle of water she'd become. Then even the water disappeared, soaking into the earth, every single molecule of it, traveling through the ground to find a river, a stream, whatever flow that would take her away.

Swearing under his breath, he knelt and touched the dry soil where she'd been only a moment ago. Gone yet again. This was the fifth time she'd eluded him this week, and he was beginning to grow weary. Every time he thought he had her _every_ time he thought the chase had _ended_ he met with the same dishearening conclusion to their little game and was left to bemoan his own mistake. All because he'd been gawking over her beauty.

Naruto cursed sulphurously, realizing he'd been had.

"Damned _mizu bunshin!"_

Before he could rise, before he could move, a kunai touched his adam's apple. The Hokage froze. He hadn't been expecting this, either. He'd half expected her to vanish again, leaving it to him to track her down once more. Obviously this was not the case. The kunai nibbled at his throat, drawing a thin rivulet of blood. A pair of lips followed suit, with the outer lobe of his right ear; taking the cartilege against her tongue and suckling tenderly. He could feel her breasts, quashing against his back.

Naruto shuddered.

"Th-That's cheating."

Mei smiled, keeping the kunai at his throat.

"All's fair in love and war." She murmured softly. "And this isn't war, darling."

Her lips drifted lower, seeking his chin, then his neck in a series of soft, delicate kisses. Naruto bit back a hiss of pleasure. _Damnable woman!_ If she kept this up, he really was going to...to...to...**!**

_POOF!_

Mei's eyes flew open as the _kage bunshin_ detonated with devastating effect; showering her with scalding steam and knocking her off balance.

_'A exploding clone!'_

Despite herself, Mei smiled. She'd taught him that one. The dispersing of a shadow clone in-and-of itself wasn't all that dangerous. When the clone's chakra_-or rather its body temperature-_was superheated to destructive levels, _that_ was when the danger arose. But in reality all he'd done was knock her on her ass. She didn't _have_ any clothes to rip or tear, thus assuring her he'd use the opportunity to strike.

"You can stop hiding now, darling." she called into the smoke.

_**"Who said I was hiding?"**_

The _real_ Naruto hurtled off a nearby bough, his arms locking around her waist in a flying tackle. They went down in a gaggle of arms and limbs and came up swinging. Naruto nearly lost his head_-and most of his kage coat!-_when Mei jerked around and spat a steaming globule at him. The hakama sizzled from his shoulders, a trail of smoke following him as the robes covering his chest smoldered into nothingness.

He stole a downward glance at himself, now clad in little more than black slacks, and frowned. She hadn't so much as burn him; rather she'd incinerated the attire of his upper body and left his flesh utterly intact. Naruto shot his fellow kage_-and soon to be wife-_a baleful glare.

"Now Mei, that was just _rude."_

Mei's only response was to smile.

He moved again to pass her, and she moved to block him, and it was almost with relief that he struck out at her face. It was just a feint, and when she ducked, he jammed at her stomach with his knee, but she twisted so that the blow didn't fall true, and came back with a fist to his stomach.

"Oof!"

Naruto took the blow, just to see how well she hit, and then immediately wished he hadn't. This wasn't some helpless woman, one who could barely even touch him, even with his guard relaxed. She could genuinely injure him. Mei, if she so desired, could knock the wind, the fight, right out of him.

A small smirk twisted his face. She really _could_ fight, and so a fight would be had.

Dropping the rock, he jumped, and in response, she kicked at his chest. He crashed to the ground, and Mei threw herself on top of him, struck him in the face, once, twice, three times, and kneed him in the side before he was able to throw her off. She was on him again in an instant, but as she tried to pin his arms, he flipped her onto her back, pinning her with the weight of his body.

She curled her legs up and heaved him away, and then they were on their feet again, crouching, circling, striking at each other with hands and feet. She kicked at his stomach, and barreled into his chest, and they were on the ground again. Hand to hand combat wasn't exactly Naruto's _forte per se_, but what he lacked in experience he more than made up for in effort and strength.

And truth be told, he was pretty good at it.

Mei didn't know how long they'd been grappling when she realized...he was _laughing. _As she flipped him, she understood his joy, understood it completely. She'd never had such a fight, she'd never had such an opponent. She was faster than he was offensively, much faster, but he was her better in strength and stamina, and she'd never known a fighter with such tenacity as Uzumaki Naruto. She was calling up moves she hadn't tried since she was a child, blows she'd only ever imagined having the opportunity to use on anyone.

Yet this was different than her basic sparring practice with her classmates, back when they were children, trying to improve their skills. _They were playing._ It was a game for the two of them now, to see who could pin the other, before he/she pinned you. When Naruto wriggled out of her hold, pinned her arms behind her back, and grabbed a soft fistful of her hair, pushing her face roughly, but not too roughly now, into the dirt, she was laughing as well.

"You tricked me." He panted, irritated that he'd been baited into sparring with her, more out of frustration than anything; but that he'd fallen for it only frustrated him further. When he felt her move, he tightened his grip, just enough to hold her, or so he thought.

"Oh did I?" She kicked her feet up at him abd squirmed her arms out of his grasp. She elbowed him in the face, and when he jumped to avoid what would've been a crippling blow, she flew at him, flattening him to the ground. She pinned his arms just as she had done, and shoved _his _face into the dirt. Finally, she dug one knee into the small of his back.

"Surrender, darling." She loomed over him, her breath tickling the back of his neck. "I win this time." He mumbled something into the dirt, and she arched an eyebrow, pulling his head out of the muck so she could hear him properly.

"Excuse me?" she asked, lowering an ear toward his mouth.

_"I never surrender."_

The Hokage spat out a clod of dirt and grinned, a gorgeous white streak in the dark. Mei'd only the barest second to look at him before the blond _bucked_ forcing her grip to fall slack for the briefest of instants. It was enough. He rolled beneth her, bringing both arms to bear. Mei braced herself for an attack. One that never came. She opened her eyes to find the Rokudaime Hokage _glowing._ His entire body shining like a dying sun in its final moments, wreathing the forest in its glow.

"Oh?"

She watched his eyes brighten into crimson as his bare torseo shimmered a bright yellow; sheathing him a curtain of saffron. Intricate black patters scrawled across his chest and stomach and arms with the rest of him flickering like a flame in the wind. The Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. This was her first time seeing it up close. It was impressive, to say the least. Naruto bared his teeth in a triumphant grin and lurched upright as only a demon-container could.

_With gusto. _

If Mei bothered to resist, than it was pointless. His hand shot out quickly, cuffing her wrists together. He caught the side of her face with his wrist and pushed her cheek so that she was facing him. He forced Mei up, and backwards and then down, stradling her and forcing her to the forest floor. She didn't even have the time to gasp as his lips claimed hers; his two lips caging her upper lip between them, his bare chest pressed against her own.

She basked in it for a moment, recognizing the warmth that was the nine tails chakra mode. Then she smiled, lifting her hands, not to attack, but to lay them through his hair and He felt her arms tighten around him and her breathing quickened, her breasts heaving up and down against his chest. She soon found herself returning the kiss, deepening it as she opened her mouth and slid her tongue out and against his. She reached upwards with her arms and wrapped them around his neck as she pulled his body closer to hers.

"Mei...

"Naruto...

His mind exploded into white as his arms took control, spreading themselves across her back. He was so completely taken aback by her kiss that he hardly noticed when his left hand began to cup her firm ass and his right palm took up residence on her jaw. He deepened the kiss as he pressed his body against hers, pushing her back against the earth. Her hands were just as explorative, her nimble fingertips forsaking hair now to run along his chest and stomach.

Eventually, they had to breathe. They broke for air, gasping and choking and panting as they lay flush against one another.

"Looks like I win, Mei." Naruto replied upon breaking the kiss, shimmering over her like a god. "But I think we can let Ao keep his Byakugan, don't you? Now, about that marriage bit, I think we should wait until things haved calmed down with the villages...

_"Late?' _Mei thought, clearly misunderstanding him._ 'He thinks we should be late...for our own wedding?_

She cut him off by thumbing his chin back to face her, her lips touching his softly. He hesitated for a moment, her heart sinking for a moment, before he leaned gently into her. His right hand came to rest on her thigh, his left coming up to cup her cheek as she placed both of hers on his chest and she fell forward into him.

"Mei?"

"Shut up, or I'll kill you." was her only warning before smothering his lips with her own.

The Hokage grinned.

"Yes ma'am!"

**A/N: Surgery was a suc****cess! I'm going to live! I'm still really weak right now, and I can't move my arms (or the rest of me) too much, but I just wanted to get the news out. Thankfully I've gotten one of those mic's were you speak into it and the words come right out on screen. Otherwise I wouldn't even be typing this! BTW, who do you think won this little battle in the end? Mei or Naruto? XD I think it's pretty obvious at the end...LOLZ**

**R&R! =D**


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